"Coercive" land acquisition on in Andhra Pradesh to build Singapore-type state capital

By A Representative
Civil society network National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)-sponsored Dandi-to-Delhi Samvidhan Samman Yatra, currently in its second phase, reached the Amravati region, the proposed capital city of Andhra Pradesh, where it was told that the whole vision of making a capital city by chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has “devastated the agriculture in more than 29 villages in the name of development.”
Talking with NAPM activists led by well-known Goldman Environment (also called Green Nobel) prize recipient Prafulla Samantara and top Gandhian socialist Sandeep Pandey, Kiran Kumar Vissa of the Rythu Swaraj Vedika said, the Shivram Committee recommended to set up capital either in a decentralized manner or in Rayalseema.
The yatra, which began at Dandi, Gujarat, on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, will end on world human rights day, December 10, in Delhi. In its second phase, it reached Andhra Pradesh after travelling through Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Telangana.
“However, Naidu, rejected the report and decided to go ahead with the Amravati plan with a promise to make a city like Singapore. This obsession with western model of development has threatened the indigeneity of the area”, he underlined, adding, the acquisition of more than 50,000 acres of land for the capital city through coercive “voluntary land pooling” has left little option with the cultivators of the region.
“The benefits of consent and social impact assessment (SIA) provisions of Central land acquisition Act, 2013 remained distant for the people. From transparency to public hearing, everything was just bypassed to silence any voice raised against the acquisition. After land pooling, no farmers are allowed to cultivate the land even when no work started on the land”, Vissa said.
Worse, he said, not learning from the the devastation of Chennai flood, Amravati also seems to be following the footsteps of Chennai and encroaching on water bodies. It is the irony in the country that the real estate sector and businesses are being given priority on top of environment and people of the largest democracy.
The yatra reached Undavalli, the first village in the route. Activists took out a rally starting from the fields of Undavalli, with a large number of farmers joining them, suggesting discontentment among the people, suppressed since long by the state government.
Rythu Swaraj Vedika activists, talking with yatra participants, said, there are 120 documented different crops being cultivated in the region. The area is famous for its rich fertile soil which supports four or more crops at the same time.
Naji Reddy, a farmer from Nidamarru, the second village visited by the yatra, said, “On one acre of land, 50 people are dependent on an average, ranging from the families of cultivators to small-scale traders. An agricultural worker earns Rs 200-400 a day in the region. What will we do when we are dispossessed our land and livelihood? The government is giving us false promises like providing free education and health services in the name of development.”
Jayamma, a woman farmer from the village, said, “We are farmers and we only know how to cultivate our land. No amount can compensate loss of our life-long livelihood and basis of right to life. Money will be finished and we all will be left with no choice but to work as a worker in the factories where industries will rule our lives.”
“If the government and chief minister of Andhra Pradesh wants us to give up our land and livelihood, they should also be ready to give up their seats. They don’t deserve to represent us anymore”, she added.
At Lingyapalem, the third village, where a public meeting was organised by local community leaders, people said, the state government is hell bent on acquiring land and driving out everyone, including original inhabitants of the land. It is nothing but an injustice with adivasi, dalits, and landless workers.
Another public meeting was held in Ongole, organized by the Democratic Traditional Fishworkers Forum, APVVU, and State Yanadi Union, where local leaders expressed serious concern over the proposal to construction of 18 new ports and a large number of power plants, commissioned around ports on the 760 km long coastline of the state.
“All this is being done under Sagarmala and Industrial Corridor projects”, it was pointed out. “The access to the coast is being systemically restricted for the fisherpeople. They are being forced to abandon their fishing practices and become migrant workers in their own state.”
“We are unable to go for fishing as the rising urban population due to rapid urbanization around coasts and urban pollution are killing the fish population”, said A Subharav, a fisherman. “The coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) norms are being violated. Police officials brutally treat protesting fisher people. People are being killed and their bodies were taken away by the police forces”, added K Subharao, a teacher.

Comments

Pace bowlers who transcended pace bowling prowess to heights unscaled

By Harsh Thakor* This is my selection and ranking of the most complete and versatile fast bowlers of all time. They are not rated on the basis of statistics or sheer speed, but on all-round pace-bowling skill. I have given preference to technical mastery over raw talent, and versatility over raw pace.

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava* Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.

When grief becomes grace: Kerala's quiet revolution in organ donation

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Kerala is an important model for understanding India's diversity precisely because the religious and cultural plurality it has witnessed over centuries brought together traditions and good practices from across the world. Kerala had India's first communist government, was the first state where a duly elected government was dismissed, and remains the first state to achieve near-total literacy. It is also a land where Christianity and Islam took root before they spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Kerala has deep historic rationalist and secular traditions.

Bangladesh goes to polls as press freedom concerns surface

By Nava Thakuria* As Bangladesh heads for its 13th Parliamentary election and a referendum on the July National Charter simultaneously on Thursday (12 February 2026), interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus has urged all participating candidates to rise above personal and party interests and prioritize the greater interests of the Muslim-majority nation, regardless of the poll outcomes.

Beyond the conflict: Experts outline roadmap for humane street dog solutions

By A Representative In a direct response to the rising polarization surrounding India’s street dog population, a high-level coalition of parliamentarians, legal experts, and civil society leaders gathered in the capital to propose a unified national framework for humane animal management. The emergency deliberations were sparked by a recent Suo Moto judgment that has significantly deepened the divide between animal welfare advocates and those calling for the removal of community dogs, a tension that has recently escalated into reported violence against both animals and their caretakers in states like Telangana.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Declaration on raw cotton imports contradicts claim: 'Agriculture outside US trade deal'

By A Representative The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has alleged that recent remarks by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on raw cotton imports from the United States contradict the government’s claim that agriculture is not part of the proposed India–US trade arrangement.

Walk for peace: Buddhist monks and America’s search for healing

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The #BuddhistMonks in the United States have completed their #WalkForPeace after covering nearly 3,700 kilometers in an arduous journey. They reached Washington, DC yesterday. The journey began at the Huong Đạo Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, on October 26, 2025, and concluded in Washington, DC after a 108-day walk. The monks, mainly from Vietnam and Thailand, undertook this journey for peace and mindfulness. Their number ranged between 19 and 24. Led by Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara (also known as Sư Tuệ Nhân), a Vietnamese-born monk based in the United States, this “Walk for Peace” reflected deeply on the crisis within American society and the search for inner strength among its people.

Constitution vs. mining: The trial of environmental justice in Pachama Dadar

By Raj Kumar Sinha* The auction process for the Pachama Dadar bauxite block in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh, was initiated in 2023. Yet a closer examination of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report submitted for this proposed mining project reveals serious procedural and substantive failures that call into question the legitimacy of the entire exercise.

Search This Blog